"Michael Black" wrote in message
xample.org...
On Sun, 12 Mar 2017, MJC wrote:

In article ,
says...

At least single transistors could be unsoldered and tested. When I
used them for some projects that I built, I always put them in
sockets.

There's also the problem that at the speeds stuff works at these days,
the extra spacing is electrically significant.

I remember playing with a tunnel diode in the 1960s when they were
commercially available and they were quite difficult to stop
oscillating!

I think that accounts for why in hobby circles, their attraction was
mostly as an oscillator. "WIreless mics", QRP transmitters on the amateur
six metre band, oscillator/mixer in various receiver circuits. Offhand, I
can't remember much of their use as amplifiers in hobby circles.

The hobby magazines of that era were full of TD bugs.